A PLEA for cash to aid the victims of the floods in Pakistan is being made on Saturday in Middlesbrough town centre.

Five Middlesbrough Labour councilors and people from Middlesbroughs Asian community are holding a collection in the town centre.

Councillor John McPartland said it was an opportunity for the people of Middlesbrough to contribute to the relief fund to help victims of the floods.

It is the most devastating flood in centuries in Pakistan and it covers an area equivalent to that of England.

Nazakat Ali, a taxi driver who has already donated a weeks wages to the fund, said: We are trying to do our best to raise money.

Besh Iqbal said all the money was being donated to the Lifecare UK charity to help people hit by the flooding. Money was already being spent on schemes such as supporting a camp for people who had lost their homes.

The situation is very desperate and it will take five years for things to recover.

Councillor Len Junier said: This collection provides people in Middlesbrough with an opportunity, at least in a small way, to make a difference to people whose lives have been destroyed by the floods.